History was once again made in the 2013 MotoGP Championship following Repsol Honda Marc Marquez’s win at the 2013 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.

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The 20-year-old Marquez became the youngest back-to-back race winner, ousting the record held by Freddie Spencer. He also became the first rookie to ever win at Laguna Seca.

The current MotoGP points leader of Spain was joined on the podium at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca by pole-sitter Stefan Bradl and Yamaha Factory Racing’s Valentino Rossi.

This was Marquez’s third victory of the season, his other two arriving at Circuit of the Americas and last weekend’s German round at Sachsenring. Him and Lorenzo are now tied for wins after nine of 18 rounds. With his win, Marquez finished on the podium in eight of nine races.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V MotoGP) says: “Before I came here, I was expecting to struggle more. From the TV, this circuit looked so tricky. Since FP1 I have felt so good. Next time I’ll be able to learn where all of the bumps are and everything – yesterday I found a new bump, when I crashed at Turn 6! Anyway, today in the race it was so good.

“At the beginning, with a full fuel tank, I was little bit scared because – with all of those bumps – it’s so easy to lose the front. I overtook Valentino (Rossi) then caught Bradl; I stayed behind him for about 12 laps, then tried to pass him to open up a gap. I’m very, very happy because it’s a new circuit and I’ve got 25 points. I’m very happy because it’s great to go into the summer break with this result.”

Marquez couldn’t catch Bradl during qualifying, but things were much different on race day. Bradl got out front first, followed by Rossi and GO&FUN Honda’s Alvaro Bautista, who began from third on the grid.

Marquez, who started from second, fell back to fourth, but made quick work of Bautista. He then passed Rossi on the infamous Corkscrew at the shortest circuit on the 2013 MotoGP Championship, and began chasing down Bradl. On lap 19 of 32, Marquez passed Bradl, and eventually took the checkered flag 2.2 seconds ahead of the German.

Bradl rode clean, and after Marquez passed him, the 2011 Moto2 Champion remained smooth and calm. He had a huge margin over Rossi, and was able to take his first-ever podium. Before the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, Bradl had three four-place finishes, but could never reach the podium. But this all changed at Laguna.

Rossi finished 4.4 seconds back in third, which was the Italian’s third consecutive podium, including his win at Assen. The Netherlands victory was his first win since the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2010. Bautista put much pressure on Rossi, who is known for his famed pass on Casey Stoner (Ducati) in 2008. But Bautista would have to settle for fourth.

Taking fifth was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who is recovering from a left collarbone injury sustained at Sachsenring. The Spaniard finished 9.2 seconds behind his teammate Marquez. The other man who rode with a left collarbone injury, the reigning MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo, finished sixth. The Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1 pilot was passed by Pedrosa at Andretti Hairpin.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow finished seventh. The Brit suffered a heavy crash Saturday and was forced to use a back-up bike for the second qualifying session.

Crutchlow finished 15.3 seconds behind Marquez. The next group of riders finished over 33 seconds back, lead by Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden in eighth. The American was followed by teammate Andrea Dovizioso and Avintia Blusens FTR CRT’s Hector Barbera. With his finish, he became the first rider other than Aleix Espargaro to lead the CRT class this season.

With his win, Marquez now holds a 16-point lead over teammate Pedrosa. Lorenzo is in third, 26 points behind Marquez. With his podium finish, Rossi bumped Crutchlow from fourth; Rossi trails Marquez by 46 points.

With the first half of the season over, the 2013 MotoGP takes a month-long summer break before the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix Aug. 16-18.

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